How do you motivate yourself?

[Paul Squires]

What do you guys do to motivate yourself to do programming?

I used to program for hours every day but for almost a year now I have a very hard time igniting that passion that drove me create so many applications that you guys have seen and other ones that I used at my job. With Bob passing and PB in a state of limbo, I think that has just compounded my lack of interest (not sure if "lack of interest" are the right words).

I know that Jose feels the same way and Dominique has for a long time seems to have chosen cycling and outdoor activities over PB coding.

Maybe it will hit me like a flash some day and everything will return to normal. Maybe I burned myself out and the thrill of discovery is not as great as it used to be. Maybe a break is what I needed after 20 years of churning out code.

How about you guys? How do you do it?  Mountain Dew and Caffeine? 

[Rolf Brandt]

I think it is this feeling of insecurity, not knowing if your work might be in vain because all over sudden PB might disappear. I remember I felt the same when VB6 was replaced by Net. I never liked Net, the last Visual Studio I bought was VB2005 Pro, and I did not make much use of it, just toying around, but never wrote a commercial program on it.

But think how many folks are still using VB6 though there is no support by MS anymore. I myself keep up a couple of VB6 programs down until today. I think it would be the same with PB. On a smaller scale of course, but it will we a great tool still for many years - especially with a great RAD tool like FireFly wrapped around it. I think there are many programmers that do not want to go mainstream with those Giganto Suites, that love a clean, straightforward environment. The combination of PB with FireFly and with Josè's great wrappers is a real fantastic instrument.

It might be a good idea though to save those great resources of the PB forum somehow. I remember Borje's Poffs program to read the forum offline - something of that sort, or even use Poffs itself.

So cheer up, Paul, the future is not that grim as it might look now. There are many developers depending on your work. Get that dot syntax implementet, whip out FireFly4 and collect some money from it. Then the future will look brighter again.

There many folks that love you, your work, and this forum.

Rolf

[José Roca]

My motivation was to explore new techniques, but with the failure of Windows 8 and the current situation of PB...

[Paul Squires]

I think it is this feeling of insecurity, not knowing if your work might be in vain because all over sudden PB might disappear.

I think you may have the answer there. Years and years of work that might be irrelevant kind of hits you hard especially with every day that goes by with nothing from PB.

[John Waalkes]

I've always been an "As needed" type of programmer, so I'll normally go a long time between projects (so long that I regularly find myself having to relearn FireFly & PB).

I've got other interests, my main one being electronics, where I find that programming is just a way of getting the hardware to work.

Take a break and enjoy yourself, there are other things to do beside slinging code all day.

[James Padgett]

Perhaps a simple hit list of what you want to do .. work a topic , take a break..

I code in spurts as well ...  sometimes I really want to make it happen, and other times I just don't care...

You have to have a real sense of purpose in order to code anyway.....

Long ago I got my first computer and was interested in the fact that after all that $$$$  about all I had was a blinking cursor ...

I studied discrete logic in Electronics School, but had never really worked with computers..  so I bought magazines with pages of DATA statements and started programming that way .. then on to the languages of the day....
I found it much like learning to play a musical instrument ..  a lot of time to get minimal results .... but since there were few programs out in the wild... I was forced to do it myself..

I liked BASIC syntax and eventually stuck with it.. but over the years since I only programmed for small work projects and myself I found that someone else had probably done a program that works for me and since I am so slow at coding found that I was writing code less and less..

But there are still times when I feel the need to write some code... but as time grows shorter I do tend to code less..

[John Waalkes]

"Paul Squires ‏@PlanetSquires 25 Aug
I have the #PS4 pre-ordered! Can't wait to get the new #Battlefield4 for it. #rockthebattlefield"


Oh, *NOW* I see where all your motivation went... LOL!

[Marc van Cauwenberghe]

Hi Paul,

First of all, your work can never be in irrelevant. That is just fact! I made a program that helped reduce infections in a hospital. I did not get any money for it. But knowing it helped, it really is making a difference for patients is very motivating. And guess what Paul, without you this would never have happened. That is just a fact! I would never have made it with just PB alone, it couldn't. So in a real sense your product helped made that difference. That is just fact! PB going down cannot change that. The program is still running. It's still doing it's job.

Another motivation is money. I am not afraid to tell this. The programming I do aside from my main job can be rewarding for the above reasons but I do get some money also. It is not much, I probably could not live from it but I can reward myself with a new iPhone every year, a new computer, a Sonos playbar... I have probably said this before to you but you should really charge for FF upgrades. If at the end of an upgrade cycle you end up with just a couple of hundred dollars that you can spend the way you want! Newest games for one

The above is off course in the case you are talking about programming as a side job. I mean FF. If it is programming during your main job you need another kind of speech.

Very best regards,
Marc

[Paul Squires]

Hi Marc - thanks for letting me know about your hospital app. Pretty cool that our tools are being used in such a worthwhile place. Programming is not my main job. Maybe it is because my main job has gotten so busy that it cuts into my free time. Maybe I'm too tired by the time I get a chance to start programming.     I have never been motivated by money when it comes to programming although the money has helped me buy the right tools to make programming easier. I love the thrill of building things and expanding my knowledge and programming always gave me a sense of discovery and learning.

[Paul Squires]

"Paul Squires ‏@PlanetSquires 25 Aug
I have the #PS4 pre-ordered! Can't wait to get the new #Battlefield4 for it. #rockthebattlefield"


Oh, *NOW* I see where all your motivation went... LOL!

hahahahaha!  Looks like I'm busted! 

I do play video games even though I am in my 40's. I wouldn't classify myself as a diehard gamer but I do love paying the Battlefield series. That is the one game that I regularly play. I am at the highest levels possible in both Bad Company 2 and Battlefield 3:

http://bf3stats.com/stats_ps3/rambotheman
http://bfbcs.com/stats_ps3/rambotheman

[George Bleck]

I never got into those types of games but I was an avid EverQuest player up until recently.

Still love the game but so little time to play.

[Elias Montoya]

Motivation to program? I thought programation was the motivation itself! I Enjoy programming.

[Nathan Durland]

FWIW Paul, I spend about 50% of my time at work programming.  I have an "apprentice" working for me that probably spends 40% of her time coding.  All in FireFly/PowerBASIC.  I didn't panic with recent events at PB, once I realized that the compiler will continue to work even if the product is (heaven forbid) discontinued.  In the past 5 years, we have used FF to create award-winning (literally) add-ons to our ERP system, saving nearly $1 million in the process.  Complex reports are a snap.  Customers applaud our quality inspection tracking.  So if anything, take encouragement knowing that the tools you make are important to us.  Did I mention that I would gladly pay real money for an expanded version of the Excel/XML tool you recently released?  We use it literally every day.

That said, I'm a very, very satisfied FireFly customer.  I have a wish list, of course, but none of them are show stoppers. I've tinkered with C# and the latest  VB, but can't say I'm ready to start coding there very much; FF/PB does it better for me.  Windows 8 Modern (or "Metro", whatever) apps are of no interest to me right now.

Keep doing what you do -- gradual, useful enhancements that are evolutionary -- as the muse strikes.  I promise I'll keep buying the upgrades.  To answer your original question, I sometimes just walk away from programming for a while.  I find that a few days of something else helps me get back in the programming groove.

[James Fuller]

Paul,
  I understand about work cutting into programming time but not in the way most do.
I do my best programming when I first get up.
I worked for GE for 37 years in a blue collar manufacturing environment. During that time I only spent 4 years on days. I always worked second or third shift.
I would get up and code until it was time to go to work. At one point,as the result of a layoff, I found myself on days with the inability to code when I got home. It was then I decided to go to bed at 4PM and get up at 10PM. I then coded until it was time for work at 7AM. Worked for me until a second shift job opened  up.

James

[George Bleck]

Same thing happens to me, but I feel most productive after about 10pm until about 3-4am.